FAQs Plus

If you do develop symptoms from acute infection, the average time from exposure to symptoms ranges from 1 to 12 weeks after becoming infected, while others will experience them 6 months later. In some cases, people can live with hep C for years, and that could be lifetime, before they experience any symptoms at all… Even without symptoms, a person with hep C can still spread the virus to others.

If you’re at risk for hep C (HCV), and have experienced any of the symptoms listed below, speak with your healthcare professional and ask if you should be tested. Or see one of our Health Network Collective Testers.

• Lethargy, fatigue, feeling tired
• Loss of appetitie
• Stomach pain(s)
• Nausea
• Joint pain
• Dark urine
• Pale poo or pale bowel movements
• Jaundice, yellow whites of the eyes and sometime skin.
• And any history of at risk activities, see Am I at Risk

• If you received a blood transfusion or donated organ prior to 1992
• Taking drugs through a needle (injecting), even just once
• Receiving tattoos or piercings, mainly from unlicensed studios or from unsterile practice
• Historic health care in Eastern Europe, Russia, Egypt or North Africa, India or Pakistan
• Your mother or another household member has HCV

Less Common

• Have you ever spent time in prison, (especially prison tattoos)
• Sexual practices that can could cause exposure to blood (such as anal sex)
• Sharing personal items such as toothbrushes and razors
• Snorting drugs (use of straws and other shared means to snort)

The current available treatment(s) have a 95-99% success rate in curing Hepatitis C (HCV) infection.

Treatment involves a eight (8) to twelve (12) week course of Maviret or Mavyret (spelling location dependent)

This medication consists of Glecaprivar and Pibrentasvir, with the most common side effects being occasional tiredness and headaches.

Please note that NOT all countries have listed this medication as a publicly funded medication, your local health professional will be able to inform you of availability.

Hepatitis C, or HCV, is an inflammation of the liver caused by the hepatitis C virus. The virus can cause both acute and chronic hepatitis, ranging in severity from a mild illness to a serious, lifelong illness including liver cirrhosis and cancer. The hepatitis C virus is a bloodborne virus and most infection occur through exposure to blood from unsafe injection practices, unsafe health care, unscreened blood transfusions, injection drug use and sexual practices that lead to exposure to blood. (World Health Organization, WHO)

HCV infection is one of the leading causes of liver disease globally. WHO estimates 58 million HCV infections worldwide, with approximately 1.5 million new HCV infections annually and 290,000 deaths annually resulting from HCV infection.

Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) infection is a prevalent global community concern in response to which, recently developed Direct Acting Antiviral Drugs (DAA’s) offer significant opportunity for not only cure of individuals, but elimination of HCV as a global public health threat.

In regard to this, one hundred and ninety-four countries have become signatories to the World Health Organisation (WHO) strategy for elimination of HCV by 2030. Nine countries are on track to this goal.

People who inject drugs (PWID) represent both the priority population most at risk of HCV infection and due to the illegal nature of injecting illicit drugs, a highly stigmatised and vulnerable population that is extremely hard to reach in terms of providing health care, including diagnosis and treatment of HCV.

A key resource to facilitate HCV treatment of PWID involves harnessing the peer workforce of those with lived and living experience of injecting. Peers, in this definition, have the advantage of being understood and accepted as frontline workers by PWID.

(in a nutshell – finding people who are infected is REALLY DIFFICULT!!?)             

Kaiawhina or peer-led HCV antibody Point of Care Testing (POCT), as part of general population screening, is largely an uncoordinated and unregulated exercise, spearheaded by people (kaiawhina / peers) with lived and living experience of HCV risk factors, including injecting illicit drugs.

Additionally, while this community of informally qualified practitioners is involved in peer-led POCT testing, their skills, knowledge and expertise are unrecognised, this leads to a disconnect between their practice and its positive outcomes, e.g., identifying HCV exposed wai ora (those seeking wellness), and subsequent integration with formalised diagnosis, treatment and cure.

This disconnect refers to the lack of an effective “handover” from kaiawhina / peer testers to established systems impacting kaiawhina / peer relationship with wai ora through navigation of treatment, continuation of care and beyond.

To increase efficacy of “handover”, it is proposed to research and explore the following question:

How can we improve efficacy of an informally qualified community of testers and facilitate their structured inclusion in established systems through leveraging Emerging Disruptive Technology (EDT) and associated technologies?

This research intended impact is to contribute to development of solutions to facilitate;

• formalisation, recognition and transparency of skill or qualification
• allowing kaiawhina / peers to be supported in maintaining contact and relationships with wai ora, to navigate them through their treatment and continuation of care
• kaiawhina / peers being supportively engaged in enhancing predominately under resourced, under financed and over committed primary and secondary medical care systems

The successful implementation of the proposed improved handover would contribute to financial benefits, accessibility, and viability of widespread general population testing towards global 2030 elimination goals.

Link to survey here

The current available treatment(s) have a 95-99% success rate in curing Hepatitis C (HCV) infection.

Treatment involves a eight (8) to twelve (12) week course of Maviret or Mavyret (spelling location dependent)

This medication consists of Glecaprivar and Pibrentasvir, with the most common side effects being occasional tiredness and headaches.

Please note that NOT all countries have listed this medication as a publicly funded medication, your local health professional will be able to inform you of availability.

We encourage everyone to get at least one test in their lifetime, and sooner rather than later. If you are engaged in any at risk activity we recommend you get tested every 6 months to yearly. Such activities include sharing drug taking equipment (including utensils used for snorting drugs), unprotected sexual activities with multiple or different partners, tattoos with questionable hygiene or equipment, possible medical contamination or questionable medical procedures (such as developing countries medical facilities where contamination may be possible). If your in doubt get a test. Easy.

This could be likened to Russian Roulette. Chronic hepatitis C infection (that is having undetected HCV infection long term) can remain undetected for years, decades, even lifetime if left untreated. This can lead to serious health issues including, but not limited to, liver damage, cirrhosis (scarring of the liver), liver cancer and even death. (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, CDC)

An HCV antibody Point of Care (POCT) test is a finger prick test that takes a drop of your blood and mixes with a reagent on a small cassette. The result, positive or negative, is available in as little as 5 minutes on the spot. The test is looking for antibodies to the Hepatitis C virus in your blood. This can be called a qualitative test.

Antibodies are chemicals released into the blood when someone gets infected. Once exposed to the virus you will have antibodies, so a positive test may not mean you are currently infected, just that at some stage you have been exposed. Hence a further RNA PCR quantitative test will be required if positive.

The current available treatment(s) have a 95-99% success rate in curing Hepatitis C (HCV) infection.

Treatment involves a eight (8) to twelve (12) week course of Maviret or Mavyret (spelling location dependent)

This medication consists of Glecaprivar and Pibrentasvir, with the most common side effects being occasional tiredness and headaches.

Please note that NOT all countries have listed this medication as a publicly funded medication, your local health professional will be able to inform you of availability.

If you do develop symptoms from acute infection, the average time from exposure to symptoms ranges from 1 to 12 weeks after becoming infected, while others will experience them 6 months later. In some cases, people can live with hep C for years, and that could be lifetime, before they experience any symptoms at all… Even without symptoms, a person with hep C can still spread the virus to others.

If you’re at risk for hep C (HCV), and have experienced any of the symptoms listed below, speak with your healthcare professional and ask if you should be tested. Or see one of our Health Network Collective Testers.

• Lethargy, fatigue, feeling tired
• Loss of appetitie
• Stomach pain(s)
• Nausea
• Joint pain
• Dark urine
• Pale poo or pale bowel movements
• Jaundice, yellow whites of the eyes and sometime skin.
• And any history of at risk activities, see Am I at Risk

This could be likened to Russian Roulette. Chronic hepatitis C infection (that is having undetected HCV infection long term) can remain undetected for years, decades, even lifetime if left untreated. This can lead to serious health issues including, but not limited to, liver damage, cirrhosis (scarring of the liver), liver cancer and even death. (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, CDC)

Hepatitis C, or HCV, is an inflammation of the liver caused by the hepatitis C virus. The virus can cause both acute and chronic hepatitis, ranging in severity from a mild illness to a serious, lifelong illness including liver cirrhosis and cancer. The hepatitis C virus is a bloodborne virus and most infection occur through exposure to blood from unsafe injection practices, unsafe health care, unscreened blood transfusions, injection drug use and sexual practices that lead to exposure to blood. (World Health Organization, WHO)

HCV infection is one of the leading causes of liver disease globally. WHO estimates 58 million HCV infections worldwide, with approximately 1.5 million new HCV infections annually and 290,000 deaths annually resulting from HCV infection.

The current available treatment(s) have a 95-99% success rate in curing Hepatitis C (HCV) infection.

Treatment involves a eight (8) to twelve (12) week course of Maviret or Mavyret (spelling location dependent)

This medication consists of Glecaprivar and Pibrentasvir, with the most common side effects being occasional tiredness and headaches.

Please note that NOT all countries have listed this medication as a publicly funded medication, your local health professional will be able to inform you of availability.

If you do develop symptoms from acute infection, the average time from exposure to symptoms ranges from 1 to 12 weeks after becoming infected, while others will experience them 6 months later. In some cases, people can live with hep C for years, and that could be lifetime, before they experience any symptoms at all… Even without symptoms, a person with hep C can still spread the virus to others.

If you’re at risk for hep C (HCV), and have experienced any of the symptoms listed below, speak with your healthcare professional and ask if you should be tested. Or see one of our Health Network Collective Testers.

• Lethargy, fatigue, feeling tired
• Loss of appetitie
• Stomach pain(s)
• Nausea
• Joint pain
• Dark urine
• Pale poo or pale bowel movements
• Jaundice, yellow whites of the eyes and sometime skin.
• And any history of at risk activities, see Am I at Risk

This could be likened to Russian Roulette. Chronic hepatitis C infection (that is having undetected HCV infection long term) can remain undetected for years, decades, even lifetime if left untreated. This can lead to serious health issues including, but not limited to, liver damage, cirrhosis (scarring of the liver), liver cancer and even death. (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, CDC)

• If you received a blood transfusion or donated organ prior to 1992
• Taking drugs through a needle (injecting), even just once
• Receiving tattoos or piercings, mainly from unlicensed studios or from unsterile practice
• Historic health care in Eastern Europe, Russia, Egypt or North Africa, India or Pakistan
• Your mother or another household member has HCV

Less Common

• Have you ever spent time in prison, (especially prison tattoos)
• Sexual practices that can could cause exposure to blood (such as anal sex)
• Sharing personal items such as toothbrushes and razors
• Snorting drugs (use of straws and other shared means to snort)

Hepatitis C, or HCV, is an inflammation of the liver caused by the hepatitis C virus. The virus can cause both acute and chronic hepatitis, ranging in severity from a mild illness to a serious, lifelong illness including liver cirrhosis and cancer. The hepatitis C virus is a bloodborne virus and most infection occur through exposure to blood from unsafe injection practices, unsafe health care, unscreened blood transfusions, injection drug use and sexual practices that lead to exposure to blood. (World Health Organization, WHO)

HCV infection is one of the leading causes of liver disease globally. WHO estimates 58 million HCV infections worldwide, with approximately 1.5 million new HCV infections annually and 290,000 deaths annually resulting from HCV infection.

The current available treatment(s) have a 95-99% success rate in curing Hepatitis C (HCV) infection.

Treatment involves a eight (8) to twelve (12) week course of Maviret or Mavyret (spelling location dependent)

This medication consists of Glecaprivar and Pibrentasvir, with the most common side effects being occasional tiredness and headaches.

Please note that NOT all countries have listed this medication as a publicly funded medication, your local health professional will be able to inform you of availability.

We encourage everyone to get at least one test in their lifetime, and sooner rather than later. If you are engaged in any at risk activity we recommend you get tested every 6 months to yearly. Such activities include sharing drug taking equipment (including utensils used for snorting drugs), unprotected sexual activities with multiple or different partners, tattoos with questionable hygiene or equipment, possible medical contamination or questionable medical procedures (such as developing countries medical facilities where contamination may be possible). If your in doubt get a test. Easy.

This could be likened to Russian Roulette. Chronic hepatitis C infection (that is having undetected HCV infection long term) can remain undetected for years, decades, even lifetime if left untreated. This can lead to serious health issues including, but not limited to, liver damage, cirrhosis (scarring of the liver), liver cancer and even death. (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, CDC)

The current available treatment(s) have a 95-99% success rate in curing Hepatitis C (HCV) infection.

Treatment involves a eight (8) to twelve (12) week course of Maviret or Mavyret (spelling location dependent)

This medication consists of Glecaprivar and Pibrentasvir, with the most common side effects being occasional tiredness and headaches.

Please note that NOT all countries have listed this medication as a publicly funded medication, your local health professional will be able to inform you of availability.

We encourage everyone to get at least one test in their lifetime, and sooner rather than later. If you are engaged in any at risk activity we recommend you get tested every 6 months to yearly. Such activities include sharing drug taking equipment (including utensils used for snorting drugs), unprotected sexual activities with multiple or different partners, tattoos with questionable hygiene or equipment, possible medical contamination or questionable medical procedures (such as developing countries medical facilities where contamination may be possible). If your in doubt get a test. Easy.

This could be likened to Russian Roulette. Chronic hepatitis C infection (that is having undetected HCV infection long term) can remain undetected for years, decades, even lifetime if left untreated. This can lead to serious health issues including, but not limited to, liver damage, cirrhosis (scarring of the liver), liver cancer and even death. (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, CDC)

An HCV antibody Point of Care (POCT) test is a finger prick test that takes a drop of your blood and mixes with a reagent on a small cassette. The result, positive or negative, is available in as little as 5 minutes on the spot. The test is looking for antibodies to the Hepatitis C virus in your blood. This can be called a qualitative test.

Antibodies are chemicals released into the blood when someone gets infected. Once exposed to the virus you will have antibodies, so a positive test may not mean you are currently infected, just that at some stage you have been exposed. Hence a further RNA PCR quantitative test will be required if positive.

Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) infection is a prevalent global community concern in response to which, recently developed Direct Acting Antiviral Drugs (DAA’s) offer significant opportunity for not only cure of individuals, but elimination of HCV as a global public health threat.

In regard to this, one hundred and ninety-four countries have become signatories to the World Health Organisation (WHO) strategy for elimination of HCV by 2030. Nine countries are on track to this goal.

People who inject drugs (PWID) represent both the priority population most at risk of HCV infection and due to the illegal nature of injecting illicit drugs, a highly stigmatised and vulnerable population that is extremely hard to reach in terms of providing health care, including diagnosis and treatment of HCV.

A key resource to facilitate HCV treatment of PWID involves harnessing the peer workforce of those with lived and living experience of injecting. Peers, in this definition, have the advantage of being understood and accepted as frontline workers by PWID.

(in a nutshell – finding people who are infected is REALLY DIFFICULT!!?)             

Kaiawhina or peer-led HCV antibody Point of Care Testing (POCT), as part of general population screening, is largely an uncoordinated and unregulated exercise, spearheaded by people (kaiawhina / peers) with lived and living experience of HCV risk factors, including injecting illicit drugs.

Additionally, while this community of informally qualified practitioners is involved in peer-led POCT testing, their skills, knowledge and expertise are unrecognised, this leads to a disconnect between their practice and its positive outcomes, e.g., identifying HCV exposed wai ora (those seeking wellness), and subsequent integration with formalised diagnosis, treatment and cure.

This disconnect refers to the lack of an effective “handover” from kaiawhina / peer testers to established systems impacting kaiawhina / peer relationship with wai ora through navigation of treatment, continuation of care and beyond.

To increase efficacy of “handover”, it is proposed to research and explore the following question:

How can we improve efficacy of an informally qualified community of testers and facilitate their structured inclusion in established systems through leveraging Emerging Disruptive Technology (EDT) and associated technologies?

This research intended impact is to contribute to development of solutions to facilitate;

• formalisation, recognition and transparency of skill or qualification
• allowing kaiawhina / peers to be supported in maintaining contact and relationships with wai ora, to navigate them through their treatment and continuation of care
• kaiawhina / peers being supportively engaged in enhancing predominately under resourced, under financed and over committed primary and secondary medical care systems

The successful implementation of the proposed improved handover would contribute to financial benefits, accessibility, and viability of widespread general population testing towards global 2030 elimination goals.

Link to survey here